This invention relates to soldering tools in general and specifically to automatic soldering tools utilized by automatons.
Recent developments in assembly line techniques have involved the increase in use of automatons or robots to provide a rapid and precisely repeatable worker on an assembly line which does not require meal breaks, suffer from fatigue, or become bored with excessively menial and boring tasks.
Soldering is a common assembly line task which can be particularly boring or tiring to a human if the device to be soldered has a large number of essentially similar contacts to be soldered or there are large numbers of devices with the same task essentially repeated over a period of time.
The conversion of a soldering tool to an automaton has several problems inherent in that endeavor in that:
a. the tool rapidly becomes coated with residue of either rosin or acid core flux and particulate contaminants and thereby has the potential to contaminate work pieces;
b. providing solder at the precise time and in the correct amounts required by the work piece mass and heat transfer capability of the iron in conjunction with a particular work piece.